Nailing machine for skins and the like



S. J. STAPPLER.

NAILING MACHINE FOR SKINS AND THE LIKE.-

APPLISATION man MAYa, 191a.

1,31 5,645. Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

5 SHEETSSHEET I.

' fin/awful 5510 mm Jai /wk,

S. J. STAPPLER.

NAIHNG MACHINE FOR SK IN$ AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED uuws. ms.

1 ,3 1 5, 64:5 Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

3.1; STAPPLER.

MAILING MACHINE FOR SKINS AND THE LIKE.

I APPLICATION FILED MAYB. I9l8.

PatentedSept. 9, 1919.

5 SBEETSSHEET 3.

JIOk/ effvrney S. J. SIAPPLER.

NAILING MACHINE FOR SKINS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8. I918.

1,31 5,645. Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

5 SHEEVTS-SHEET 4.

8.1. STAPPLER.

NMLING MACHINE FOR SKINS AND THE LIKE.

APPLlCATION FILED MAYB, 1918.

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sALoMotr fsmrrLER, OF'NEW'YORK, 1v. Y.

NAILING -MACHINE-FOR' SKINS AND THE LIKE.

Specification o1" Letterslatent.

A ncauon mm-m a, 191a. swarm. 233,368.

To all whom it may canoe m. 7

Be it known that I, SALOMUN J. S'rarrmn,

a citizen of the United States of America,

residing at New York city', Bronx county,

State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inQNailinglilac-limes for Skins and the like, Qf WlllOh the following is afull,.clear, and'iexact desaid skins are'out to thedesiredshape.- gMy'improved nailing d'e'vi'ce 1s1;'ar1:aa1ged-1.to

seription. V w

This invention relates toimprovements in nailing machines, and While; myimproved machine is arranged to automatically hammer nails, tacks or thelike,itis especially intended for use in connection with othercooperating elements to secure-skins or the like to a suitable support,preferably aboard carrier. In the mamifacture"of for articles,

the skins have to be prepared and cut to the desired shape. Thepreparing of the skins consists in dampening and thereafter stretchingsaine'while clamp to a, suitable carrier and allowed to dry, after whichthe stretch the skinsfand to automatically fasten same to a l'ioardorthe-like. ;-I1he above is an outlineof my invention, further fen-V tures of improvement appearing in the' fol lowing description anddrawings, showing one embodiment of my invention, Wherein:- r

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine; 7 g V l ig. 2 is atop plan view thereof show ing chiefly the movablecarrier and head;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of the nail-feeding diskand chute; Fig. i is an cnlarged side view. thereof; Fig. 5 is anenlarged sectional View on line 5--5 in Fig. I 7

Fig. (5 is a similar view, the section being taken on a line 6-6 in Fig.g3;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view of the type of tack or nail which I.preferably euiploy;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the nail-hopper. the sectionbeing taken on a line S-8 in Fig. 1;

F 9 is a fragmentary sectional ;-plan view thereof the section beingtakenjfon a line -')-9 in Fig. 8; r V

Fig. 10 is a. similar view,otlieg section being taken on a linelO-e-IOin Fig. 8;"

Fig. 11 is. a sectional sideelevation of the V hoJj Iier the sectionbeing taken on a line l1----ll in Fig. 8;

Fig; '12 is an enlarged detail side elevation of stretching deviceassociated With my improvements Fig-13 is a plan view thereof; 7

' Fig. 14 is a sectional View thereof, the section being taken on a line14*14 in ig. 15 is an enlarged detail end view of the hammer device andassociated partsg l ig. 16" is a sectional plan view of the hammerslide; the section being taken on a line 16-46 in Fig. 15

r Fig. '17 is an enlarged detail side view of "the nail extractor;

Fig. 18 is a detailperspective view of one of the extractorj.aws; Fig.19 187 a similar view of one of the V nail'clauips carried by thehammer;

- Fig. 20' is an enlarged detail faee view of the ueading' device; FigQQI is a similar view, scale, of the dampening device V V Fig. 29 is anenlarged fragmentar detail view of the head-end of the hammer;

ig; V V modified vform of stretche i l ig. is'a plan view thereof;

Fig. is a fragmentary perspective view of the twisted portion of saidchute.

My improved machine-is arranged to re 23. is an enlarged face view of aPatented Sept. 9, 1919.

on a reduced" 7 ceive a skin, stretch the same, and finally nail theskin to a carrier, preferably a Wood board, to receive a nail or tack.To this end, I provide a suitable skeleton frame consisting of uprights25 (Fig. 1) suitably secured to a floor or the like,at their lower ends,said uprights being connected by bracingfmeinbers 26, 26 and 27, 27 atthe top thereof. Intermediate the ends of the uprights, I

provide connecting rails 28*28, to which are pivotally secured,intermediate their ends, carrier-supports 29,- 29, said supports beingpivotally or rotatably connected to said rails at 30. The supports 29are arranged to removably retain a carrier 31, preferably a WOOCl boardto which skins, indicated by 32, may be attached. Before the skins areattached to the-boards or carriers, they are dampened torender themstretchable. T0 dampen orapply Water to the skins, I provide a dampeningdevice con sisting (in this instance) of a plurality of drums or rollers33, 34 and 85, rotatably supported by a trough 36 containing water,indieatedgby 37.. The lower portion of the rollers or drums 34 and '35are immersed in or carrier 31.

the water and the upper or pressure roller 33 rests upon the rollers 34and 35. The roller or drum 3-3 is rotatably supported by an arm 39pivoted to a bracket 10 carried by the trough 36 (Fig. 21). One of therollers (in this instance, the roller 35) carries an operating handlel1. To dampen the skins, the

upper roller will be lifted and the skin placed between roller 33 androllers 34 and 35, after which the handle ll will be operated to rotatethe rollers, whereby the skin will be passed through the rollers,backward horizontal position. 'But other supporting means for thecarrier may be employed. The object of the rotatable supports for thecarrier is to allow for two skins, for instance, to be secured to thecarrier, one on each side. It would be quite possible to secure aplurality of small skins to each side of the carrier, say for instance,two small skins on each side. After the carrier and 'itsinitiallyattached skin,or skins, has been placed in the carrier, the skins willbe secured to the carrier, after the skin has been stretched, by theapplication of nails which pass through the skin adjacent the edgesthereof in order to avoid mutilating the skin any more than possible.

The nails or tacks which I employ, are preferably of specialconstruction (see F ig. 7) but I do not limit myself to the use of anyparticular type of nail. The nails or tacks referred to are designed towith stand the impact of the hammer without breaking, also to allow ofready extinction and to be used as often as desirable. To this end,Iprovide a tack or nail having a plurality of heads 43 and 141 connectedby a relatively thick shank 45, the lower head 'carr in a Jiercin ointl6 lon enou h to pass through the skin and into the board when the nailis driven home, the lower head 44. will be forced against the skin,while the upper head will project, abovethe skin. To force the piercingpoint through the skin into the board, I provide a special hammeringdevice, which I will now proceed to describe.

The hammering device.

The hammering device includes a reciprocatmg hammer 47 carried by aslide 18 operating in a guide 4:9 secured to a motor 50.

The motor-shaft 51 (Fig. 1) carries a gear 52 meshing with a gear 53carried by a shaft 54 mounted in a bearing 55 on the motor 50.: The gear53 is connected to the hamn'ler-slide d8 by a link 56. The upper end oflink 56 is pivotally connected to the crank-pin 57 which carries an arm58 directed toward the axial line of shaft 54. The arm 58 carries asupplemental stubshaft 60, the axis of which is coincident with the axisof the shaft 54; hence said stub-shaft will rotate concentrically withshaft 54:. The stub-shaft 60 actuates a flexible shaft 61 which in turnactuates a nail or tack-feeder, indicated generally by 62. The hammer 47consists of (in this instance) two slidably connected parts, a bodyportion 63 connected with the slide 4:8 and.

a head 6 1 carrying'a shank 65 slidably engaging a socket, 66 in thebody portion 63. The body portion 63 and head 64- are normally connectedfor mutual operation by means of a latch-pin 67 carried by the body tonormal position after it has performed 7 its function, as willhereinafter appear.

In combinationwith the hammer, employ means to automatically feed nailsor tacks thereto. p

The nail supply and feeding device.

The nail or feed supply consistsof a hopper 7 0 carried (in thisinstance) by the casing of the motor, a chute 71, and thebeforementioned feeding dis-k or device 62. The hopper is provided witha delivery pipe 72 through which the nails or tacks will pass The objectof the intothehopper. Referring to Figs. 8 and.

11, the hopper 7 0 consists of a fixed casing 73 which includes anannular flange Hand a rotatable .drum 75 withinthecasing. The drum isprovided with acentral chamber 76 to receive the nails or tacks. Theremainder of the body 77 of the drum is provided with a series of.channels 78 to conform to the shape of the nails or tacks illustrated inFig. 7, and hereinbefore described (see also Fig. 10). The drum carriesa sprocketwheel 79 connected by a chain 80 'to a sprocket-wheel 81 onthe motor-shaft 51 (see 7 I Fig. 1). vic'e thedrum 75 will be rotated.During the rotation of the drum the nails, which have been poured intothe chamber 76 will During the operation of the de- 7 uler is making acomplete stroke.

be stirred up and thrcshed about therein. The nails which becomepositioned by the stirring and threshing to aline with the channels 78will drop into said channels, that is to say, when a nail becomespositioned to cause its largerhead 413-130 aline with the wider slot 82of said channels, the nail will drop into said channel (see Fi 10). Thenails will not drop inuntil they do aline. The chute 71, which conveysthe nails away from the hopper, consists of the two channeled-meInbers83 and 84: (Figs. 5 and 6) havingthe channels presented. toward eachother, said IDGlllbQl'S' being spaced apart to form a slot 85 to receivethe piercing point of the nail or tack. The chute? 1 will have its upperend located with respect to the channels in the hopper to cause thesmaller head tal of the nails to be received within the channels of theehute-n'ieinbers, as shown, the larger head t being caused to ride uponthe-upper surface 86 of said chuteaneinbers. The entrance 8'? tothechute '71 will be wide enough to insuretheentrance thereinto of thenails (see l igs. 1O andyl l). The nail will be deliveredto the chuteina horizontal. position, but will beturned to a vertical position, fordelivery to'the feeding disk 69 by the twisted portion 88 of the chute71. (See Fig. 25.) The'feed device 62 consists of a disk 89 (Fig. 3)having p ripheral recesses or pockets 90 to'aline with the channels ofthe chute-members 83 and Sel. (see Fig. 6). The disk89 will he operatedstep by step, that is to say, advanced the distance between twopockets'each time the hammer is ope 'at'ed. During-each"operation of thehannnenwhich consists of a" downward working stroke and a return idlestroke, the disk 89 will be advanced one step by the G-enova-movement91, the'ineniber 92 of which is connected to the stuh-sha-ttfit) by theflexible shaft 61.. The Geneva- 1110 veinei'it will. be set to rotatethe disk while the'hanr \Vhen the hannner comes to rest at the end ofits idle stroke, a pocket 90, containing a nail, will have beenpositioned opposite'to the nail clamp-mmnbers93' and fidscarricd' by thehammer (Figs. 1, 3 and 20), whereupon the nail in said pocket will fallbetween the aid cla1np-1ne1nbers. At such time, a pocket will have againalined with the nail chute and a nail will fall into said. pocket; henceat each operation of the feeding-disk, a mail will he delivered andonercceived. A guard 95 acts to prevent the nails in the pocket fromfalling out during their passage from the chute to the feeding disk.-Eajch nailelamp 93 and 9t carriesaprojectionnrstop 96 (Fig. 20) to'revent the nai s roinfpas ing through or between the clamps 93nnd 94-.The clamp-members 931 ndQi' rare yieldable or spring acting; hence aftera nail has been drircn in by the hammer, the clamps 93 and 9-1: willspring over the head d3 of the nail during the return or idle stroke ofthe hammer.

In combination with the hammer, I pro ride astretching device toplace'the skins under tension while the nails are being ap-P].JGCl,'Wi11(Jl1 I wlll now describe.

The stretching device.

The stretching device, in this instaijice, consists of" a pair ofclamp-Jaws 97 and 98 (Figs. 12 and 13) pivotally connected to each otherand to a movable support 99 by a pin 99 7 The jaws will be kept normallyseparated by a spring 101. The cla1np1'ne1nber 98, which I will term thelower aw-member, carries a plate 102 which. rests upon the carriernndupon'vvhieh the skin rests (see Flf".

a plate 103 which engages-the skin upon its upper surface. The" upperplate 103 1s provided Mltlltt'lfGCGSS 104:, for the passage ofthehannnerfhead, aiming with a recess 105 in the lower plate 102 for thepassage of thenail. The support for the clamp-memhers consists (in thisinstance) of links 106, 107 pivotally connected at their upper end to abrz'tcket' 108 on the motor casin (See iFi'g. 161) A spring 109 whichconnects the extension 110 011 thelink 106' with the n1otor- "casing,serves to maintain the strctchiitig de vice somewhat removed from aposition underthehnnnner, when not in use, for reasons to be set' forth.

the central nails Fin. 2 actin as an ai'ichon \Vhile the skin undertension, or

V 'atherthat portion gripped by the jaws, I

apply a nail thereto, thus securing the skin totlie carrier while undertension.

The engagement or gripping oi the skin by therelatively large plates 102and 103 prevents tearing of the skin, the plates being "12 The upperclampniember also carries a recessed to allow the nail to be appliedclose to theedge of the skin (see Fig. 13).

' 7 To cause the hammer to operate while the skin is under tension, Iprovide one'ot the clamp m elnbers (in this instance 98') with a switch'll l said switch being included in the motor ircuit 112, such a switchbeing dineen ma ally ilhlstratedin 12 \Vhile the'skin 'is undertension,the operator will .pressithe' button of" the switch to close; thecircuit for them'otor, whereupon the ham tact with the upper surface ofthe skin, but

to prevent injury to the parts the connection between the hammer-headand body portion of the hammer will be released as soon as said lowerhead seats. In other words, should the lower head seat before the vcrank reaches its lower dead center, the connection between thehammer-head and bodyportion will release, and hence the remainder of thestroke of the body (portion! can continue without injury to the parts.Upon the return stroke, the spring 69 will restore the hammer-head tonormal position.

Instead of manually stretching the skins, I may do so automatically bythe device illustrated in Figs. 23 and 24. In this form the head 64 willbe provided with a support 113 carrying a post-member 114 and a member115 which also acts as an auxiliary post and carries a pressure spring116. The

'post 114 has secured thereto at 117 a lower jaw 118 and an upper jaw119. The jaws 118 and 119 are kept normally separated Joy a spring 120,the spring 116 being normally relaxed. When the hammer is lowered toapply a nail, the spring 116 will be compressed,

thereby forcing the upper jaw down on the skin, the serrations thereonengaging the skin. A further downward movement of the hammer will causethe edge 121 of the slot 122, in which the post 114 is mounted, tocontact with the inclined plate 123 on the post 114. A further downwardaction of the hammer will move the jaws as an entirety in the directionof the arrow, 124, thereby stretching the skin. The entire operationabove described will take place be fore the nail reaches the skin. Theplates 125 and 126 of the jaws 118 and 119 are recessed as at 127 and128 for the passage of the nail and hammer-head.

As the contour of the skins to be treated will be irregular, the hammerdevice is mounted so that it can be caused to follow the said contour.For this purpose, I have provided a carriage 129 movable longitudinallyof the frame of the device, said carriage supporting a head 130 movablelongitudinally thereof and transversely of the frame. The motor 50 ispivotally secured to the head 130 by means of a bushing 131 and atherethrough passing trunnion-member 132 (Fig. 16). The carriage 129consists of rails 133 secured at the ends to frames 134 carrying rollers135 engaging the frame-members 27. The head 1330 consists of aplate-member 136 carrying rollers 137 to engage the rails 133 of thecarnage 129. It will be apparent that by means of the movable carriage,movable head and rotatably supported hammering-device, the hammer can becaused to follow the 1rregular contour of a skin. But it is apparentthat other means for supporting the ham-' The nail extractor.

The nail extractor, in this instance, comprises an endless chain 138(Figs. 15 and 17) operated by a sprocket 139 on the shaft 54, said chainalso passin around a second sprocket 140 adjacent tie carrier 31. Thelower, sprocket is carried by a depending frame 141 pivotally supportedby the shaft 54. The frame l41 carries an extension 142 having openings143 and 144 to receive a pin 145 to hold the extractor in an operativeposition or in an idle position away from the skin. The chain 138carries a plurality of jaws 146 (Fig. 18) toengage the nails between theheads thereof. During the operation of the chain, thejaws 146 willengage the driven in nails and pull them out it being of courseunderstood that the said jaws will be caused to aline with said nails bymanipulating the carriage 129 and head 130. When the jaws are caused toaline with a nail, one at a time (the extractor being positioned asindicated in Fig. 1), the jaws will be moved to a position between theheads, straddling the shank during the movement of said jaws around thelower half of the sprocket 140; hence when the said jaws move upwardly,thenails will be pulled out. The dotted lines in Fig. 15 illustrate anail engaged by a jaw.

To prevent the hammer from making more than a complete stroke each timethe switch button is pressed, I provide a stop mechanism in the circuitarranged to prevent the crank from overrunning, consisting of pins 147and 148 engaging openings 149, 150 in the gear 53, said pins beingactuated by a magnet 151 operating on a bellcrank-lever 152. One pin ata time will engage the gear; for instance, should the pin 148 be inengagement when the switch is pressed, it would be pulled out, allowingthe gear to rotate, the magnet 151 being in the motor-circuit. Thisaction will force the pin 147 into contact'with the gear in the path ofmovementof its opening150. As soon as opening 150 alined with said pin,which would take place when the gear made a complete stroke, it would beforced there,- into by the magnetic pull, it being remembered that thecurrent would be still on. operator will. release the buttonas soon asthe hammer comes to rest. The pins 147 and 148 will alternately act toprevent the gear from being overrun.

After the skins have been dried and cut to the desired shape, they willbe removed from the carrier and passed through a kneading or softeningdevice to. render same pliable. The kneading device consists of aplurality of drums or rollers 153 and15i (Figs. 1 and 21), the roller153 being pro vidcd with recesses 155 and the roller 154: withprojections 156 alining with the same. During its passage between therollers, portions 01 the skin will be pressed into the depressions orrecesses by the projections. The action of pressing the skin. into thedepressions will. act to bend or knead same, thereby rendering the skinsoft. The upper drum or roll operated by a handle 157 affixed to itsshaft 158. A frame 159 supports the shaft 158 and the shaft 160 for theunder roller 15 1.

It will be understood that many of the details of constructionhereinabove described may be modified or changed in various partieularsand equivalent mechanical expedients employed for accomplishing likeresults without departing from the general scope of my invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a skin stretching machine, a carrier adapted to receive the skinsto be stretched, and means to automatically nail the skin to thecarrier, said nailing means being arranged to be moved to follow thecontour of the skin. 7

2. In a skin stretching device, a reversible carrier adapted to receivethe skins to be stretched on both sides thereof, means to' stretch saidskins, and means to apply nails to the stretched portion of the skinwhile it is under tension.

3. In a skin stretching device, a carrier adapted to receive the skinsto be stretched, means to stretch the skins, an electrically operatednailing device, and means associated with the stretching device tocontrol the operation of the nailing device.

41. In a skin stretching device, a carrier adapted to receive the skinsto be stretched, movably mounted jaws to engage the skins at the edgethereof, said jaws being arranged for movement to stretch said skins, anelectrically ope 'ated hammer to apply nails to the stretched portion ofthe skin, and a switch to control. the operation of thehammcr carried bysaid jaws.

5. In a skin stretching device, a frame, a carrier adapted to receiveskins to be stretched on both sides thereof, rotatably sela n curedthereto, means to stretch the skins, and means to apply nails to thestretched portions of the skins.

6. In a skin stretching and nailing ma chine, a carrier to receive theskins to be stretched, a universally movable nail applying deviceadjacent thereto, links pivotally secured to the nail applying device,and a stretching device carried by the links.

carrier to receive skins on both sides thereof,

a movable head adjacent the carrier, and a nail applying devicepivotally secured to said head.

10. In a skin. stretching and nailing device, a substantially flatcarrier adapted to receive skins to be stretched, a nailing devicearranged to follow the contour of the skins, and means associated withthe nailing device arranged for movement. to stretch the skinshorizmnzally without moving the nailing device.

11. In a skin stretching and nailing de vice, a carrier adapted toreceive skins to be stretched, a nailing device arranged for universalmovement in a horizontal plane only, and means adjacent thereto,arranged for movement to stretch the skins without moving the nailingdevice.

12. The combination of a nailing device arrzttnged for universalmovement in a horizontal plane, and a stretching device associatedtherewith arranged for movement independently of the nailing device.

13. The combination of a nailing device arranged for universal movementin a horizontal plane, a stretching device attached thereto and movabletherewith arranged to be moved toward or away from the nailing devicewithout moving said nailing device.

Signed at New York city, N. Y., this. 6 day of May, 1918.

SALOMON J. STAPPLER.

Witnesses:

, EDWARD A. JARVIS, EUGENE NEWMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O.

